all i want for Christmas is you
by Empress of Everything
Summary: 18 months. That's how long she'd been gone. It was his secret wish that she'd be home for this Christmas, but he knew not to get his hopes up. She was a solider, after all. {Military AU, Modern AU, Christmas AU, Sticy}
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _I can't hold off on publishing this one any longer! I hope you enjoy this Christmas AU. This is a three shot, so be on the lookout for the other two chapters. :D If you need a translation of the military terms, I'll post that on the next chapter._

* * *

"All I want for Christmas is you to come home," Sting said quietly. He propped his chin on his bent arms, flopped across his bed with a sigh.

His blonde sweetheart on the other side of the computer sighed as well, running a hand through her damp, loose hair. She was off duty, so she was snuggled in her warm civilian clothes. It might've been 125 degrees during the day in Alverez, but in the pods, Lucy had told him they kept the temperature at a comfortable 65. Besides, everyone was working the night shift anyway. Her reindeer shirt and candy cane jammie pants showed she was trying to get into the holiday spirit despite being thousands of miles away. "I know, love. I'd love to be able to come home for the holidays, even though I've already used my R&R, but..." She hesitated for a minute, her brown eyes flicking to the side.

Sting straightened. Lucy only got like that when there was some military matter going on. "What is it, Luce? Are you going to be coming home early?"

He was trying _so_ hard not to get excited but it wasn't easy. He knew from having a brother in the military that it didn't pay to get excited at the prospect of an early return. They rarely came home early, often returning later than anticipated. Rogue just rolled his eyes and said that's the military for you.

Lucy's deployment was only supposed to be 18 months long and she'd be home early January. They'd already missed their first Christmas as a couple and all Sting wanted was for his girl to be home for the second. The two weeks she had gotten for R&R that summer hadn't been near enough time for them. She'd been able to get a little reacquainted with everything, including her boyfriend of eight months. Their friends had been thrilled to see her again. Mira had thrown her a party at Fairy Tail despite Lucy's pleading not to go to such effort just for her.

Still, he'd noticed that while she was enjoying herself, talking to their friends, laughing, cuddling with him, the whole time her body was still tense. Her brown eyes were always moving, always on alert for any threat. She didn't like crowds. She kept her face to the door and back angled near a wall. Sting knew that this was classic soldier behavior. Rogue was like this all the time, hating crowds and always tense. It just hurt to see Lucy that way. He wondered if she'd ever be able to fully relax again. Seeing as this was her third deployment in six years, he rather doubted it. She'd seen too much and been through too much to ever be truly comfortable on the home front again. War had changed her.

Lucy tapped her chin and shook her head. "Sorry, can't tell you that. It's not good opsec." She paused then shuddered. "Besides if I say anything else, Erza will find out and string me up by my toes."

Sting winced at the mention of Lucy's frankly terrifying roommate and tacked on a groan. Then, with a laugh, he winked at his soldier girl. "You know, I love when you talk military to me."

Lucy groaned at his cheesiness and the conversation turned to lighter subjects. Lucy eagerly questioned him about Magnolia's Christmas preparations. Did Levy have her bookshop window all decorated and twinkling? Was Mira selling gingerbread and peppermint bark? Had Laxus grumpily lit up the tree in the square? For now, the darkness of war was driven from her beautiful eyes. With a promise to write and talk soon and pass on his love to his deployed brother, Lucy and Sting said goodbye.

He flipped over on his back, staring up at the ceiling of the room he used to share with Rogue. _Has it only been 18 months since I met her? I feel as if I've known Lucy my whole life._

* * *

 _ **I will be hosting a MidKino week (Midnight/Yukino) from January 31 to February 6, 2016. Please join me in this new crack pairing love! It's coming up super soon, so be sure to tell me if you're interested in**_ ** _joining!_**

 **MidKino Week prompts**

 **Day one:** Can I keep you?

 **Day two:** Sugar High

 **Day three:** Roommates

 **Day four:** Late night shopping

 **Day five:** Makeup Fail

 **Day six:** Old Friends

 **Day seven:** Transport

 **Bonus:** Burnt

Please tell me if you're planning on participating so I can check out your stories! **The beautiful** **Fareetauhl will be cohosting with me! We're both so excited!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** _Here's chapter 2! Short chapter this time. :)_

* * *

He'd first met Sergeant Lucy Heartfilia at a bar three weeks before she shipped out.

She'd been surrounded by other guys from her unit, laughing and drinking. Her blonde hair hung loose around her shoulders. The light blue tank top she wore under a worn flannel long sleeve clung to her curves. She was the prettiest girl, sorry, woman, he'd seen in a long time. So what if he'd gaped like a schoolboy. She was beautiful and fiery and stood out among all the men around her. Then Rogue had been greeted with a chorus of cheers and invitations to join them.

Turned out, Rogue knew her. They had gone through AIT together, the shorter blonde eventually transferring from Intelligence to Aviation Logistics. To be completely honest, Sting was still at a loss as to what that all meant. Rogue's job had to do with information and this lady's, Lucy, something about helicopters?

She had chuckled when he admitted that he really knew nothing about army life despite his twin being a soldier.

She'd explained the basics of her job, he listening and asked questions, and they shared a couple rounds. By the end of the evening, Sting was head over heels for the slender soldier. He shyly asked for her number, which she gave him, promising to call him before she left for her deployment.

The day before she left, they met up at the little coffee shop on the square. He wasn't ashamed to admit to her that he'd fallen for her when she had taken the time to actually talk to him and not roll her eyes at his lack of knowledge like Rogue did.

Sorano and Yukino had watched the exchange between their cousin and the young male with interest. Lucy rarely got involved with a man. Her demanding job, long hours, and month and even year long absences quashed any chance she had at romance. And yet here was this man, expressing interest all while knowing he wouldn't see her for months on end.

Sting had asked Lucy to be his girlfriend that day in the cafe.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Now if only she would come home...


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** _And here's the last chapter of my Christmas story! I hope you all liked it. Have a very merry Christmas, all of you. :)_

* * *

Three days before Christmas, he was kidnapped.

He'd been calmly minding his own business when, out of nowhere, he was grabbed and shoved into the backseat of a car driven by none other than Sorano Agira. The feather-obsessed woman was a psychotic driver, putting Sting in fear for his life. The car also contained her sister Yukino and their cousins Mirajane, Lisanna, and Elfman. The albino haired family didn't speak to the bewildered blonde, preferring to let him stew in silence.

Who knew it was so easy to kidnap someone?

It wasn't until they were pulling in through the gate to get on post that Sting realized what was going on. He froze in place, heart rate speeding up as he silently handed over his driver's license to get through the gate. _Lucy…Rogue…they're **home**._

"To be honest, we thought you knew," Mira said.

"But had forgotten," Lisanna added.

"Hence the kidnapping," Yukino said, indicating her family.

"Because if you break our cousin's heart, you little punk, we will break your everything," Sorano finished sweetly.

Sting shuddered.

As they entered the hanger, all chattering eagerly, Sting looked around. Flat concrete floor and a wide cavernous space was already filled with families and excited spouses. There were children running about and that made him pause. If he married Lucy, which he fully intended on doing someday in the near future, their children would be like these. He'd be left to raise a child who barely knew their mother. The only contact they would have for 9-18 months would be phone calls, texts, letters, and the occasional Skype call. He loved Lucy, he really did. But could he do that to a child?

It was then Sting remembered how Lucy herself had been raised. Her father had been a soldier and her mother died when she was only ten. When her father was deployed, she alternated between living with the Strausses and the Agiras. Her father's death on an overseas assignment had solidified her desire to serve as well, despite her lonely childhood. _We should just take this one day at a time. Talk of children can come later._

"The buses have arrived and your soldiers will be here in just a few minutes!" Cheers erupted from the waiting families at the announcement, all so eager to see their loved ones again.

When the hanger doors opened to reveal the unit standing in formation, it was all Sting could do not to cry. He hadn't picked Rogue up from a deployment before, he'd still been in school at the time, so the hyper-charged emotions were taking him by surprise. Lucy's cousins had no such restraint. They were openly sobbing, holding onto each other tightly.

Sting went up on his tiptoes, searching for a head of bright gold hair. _Geez, they really all do look the same in their uniforms! The hats aren't helping either. And Lucy isn't the tallest woman in the world. Why is she so hard to find?_ He only half heard what her commanding officer, a calm man named Jellal, was even saying. Something about an excellent completed mission and to enjoy Christmas with their families. He _did_ hear when he gave the order for their release from formation. After that, pandemonium.

He couldn't move. Why couldn't he move? Why was he frozen in place, eyes searching desperately for his blonde beloved? Where were the tears streaming from his cheeks coming from?

And then their eyes met for the first time in nine months.

With a cry, Lucy was across the hanger and in his arms, sobbing with joy. He was shaking just as badly as she was. Sighing, Sting pressed his nose to her soft hair, breathing in the smells of her mango shampoo, lingering scent of the desert, and the generic army smell of her uniform.

"I thought you knew," Lucy blubbered into his jacket front. "I emailed you but you never replied and I thought something happened and Rogue couldn't get ahold of you either and I was so worried, we both were!"

"I didn't find out you were coming home today until your cousins kidnapped me." Lucy's shoulders shook, though from sobs or laughter he couldn't tell. He held her even closer, so tightly he could feel her curves through the material of her uniform. He pulled back slightly and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Cameo looks good on you, babe." Lucy laughed, then apparently tired of talking, yanked him down for a passionate kiss, which Sting eagerly reciprocated. His first kiss in 9 months and it was perfect…

"What, you greet your girlfriend, but not your own twin? I see how it is. I suppose I'll just go greet the Agiras and Strausses since you're too occupied to say hello to me." Rogue's dry tone broke the two apart. Sting sighed and knocked his knuckles against his brother's forehead.

"Good to see you, too, bro."

Lucy was having none of that pretend standoffishness. She grabbed Rogue's arm and dragged him into their hug, making a Cheney-Heartfilia-Eucliffe sandwich. Neither soldier seemed inclined to let go, either.

"You know, you got your wish," Lucy mumbled into Sting's jacket. He looked quizzically down at her. Rogue had disentagled himself from the embrace and gone to talk to the others, leaving the couple alone. "What wish?"

"That I'd come home for Christmas. You got your wish."

Sting grinned and dropped a kiss on her golden head. "Yeah, and it was the best wish ever."


End file.
